


All Loops Have a Beginning

by protector91



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Bad Future Explored, Beginning of the Loop, Earth Quaked Apart, First Time Around, mama may
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-09 12:19:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14715905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protector91/pseuds/protector91
Summary: SPOILERS for Agents of Shield's Fifth Season. My version of what went down the first time Talbot destroyed Earth and what followed before Enoch knew to send Team Shield to the future to change it.





	1. The Last Day

Talbot grabs Daisy and then flies them both up into the air. Daisy tries to quake him, but her arms feel like something is holding them in place and next thing she knows, Talbot is shooting them both back down to Earth.

_Oh my God. Oh my God_ , Daisy panics in her mind as the street gets closer and closer. 

She musters up as much strength as possible and manages to move her arm back down towards the street and fires a quake blast just barely destroying the pavement beneath her and absorbing the shockwaves from hitting the ground. However, it still feels like someone just took a sledgehammer to her face and stomach. The world is spinning and she can barely make out Talbot saying something about quaking the ground apart. And then he pulls her back to her feet.

“I need every weapon I can get in this fight,” he tells her. She can hear a touch of remorse in his voice when he says it, but then his hand turns to gravitonium and it starts to consume her. 

_No. No! Please don’t let this be the end!_ Daisy thinks.

She tries in vain to use her powers, but they don’t budge Talbot by even a millimeter.

_I’m sorry, Coulson._ And then there’s nothing. 

A wave of sadness and vulnerability courses through Talbot almost making him collapse.

“I’m sorry-I’m sorry, Daisy,” he whispers. 

He can see everything that Daisy has experienced over not just these past five years, but her entire life. All the pain, suffering, loneliness, but also the laughter, hope, and love. Something he hopes he can experience again when he proves himself to his family. 

“I’m sorry,” he repeats once more. He tries to get his balance back and feels his feet bump into something. He glances down and sees Daisy’s gauntlets resting on the ground. He gives a deep sigh and bends down to pick them up. 

“Something for the world and your friends to remember you by,” he says before putting them on. “They’ll remember that you were a hero.” He directs his attention back to the ground below him. He can feel the endless stream of gravitonium ripe for the picking and now it was all his to use as he saw fit; to become the Earth’s mightiest hero. 

“Don’t fight me, Daisy,” he whispers hearing her voice screaming from within the gravitonium. “Don’t you tell her to shut up, Quinn!” He yells back at the other unpleasant voice in his head. 

_Ignore them. Complete the mission, soldier. Focus only on the mission._ And he struggles to block out the voices and focus only on the gravitonium. The ground beneath him starts to shake and his smiles.

_

May races down the stairs leading Robin by the hand; Fitz not too far ahead of them.

“Mack! Mack! Please come in!” She screams into her communicator, but receives no response. “I swear if you died I am going to!…” Robin’s hand slips out of May’s. She stops running and turns back to her.

“Robin, come on, we need to move.”

“Something’s wrong,” Robin says then her eyes start to widen. 

“Robin? What is it?”

“Daisy…Daisy! Daisy, no!” Robin screams and then the building starts to shake. May scoops Robin into her arms and resumes racing down the stairs alongside Fitz.

“Davis! Get the Zephyr ready to take off the second Fitz and I get on board!” She shouts into her communicator.

“Agent May! Coulson is…”

“If you aren’t in the cockpit, go there now!” She cuts Davis off. “That’s an order!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Davis weakly replies. 

Coulson is dead. May knows it, but she’ll grieve about it when it’s time to grieve. Now is not the time.

“May! What about Mack!” Fitz yells.

“Do you really want me to answer that question,” May calmly replies and the quakes start to get even worse. The two of them stumble and stagger down the stairs and grab the railing to steady themselves. 

“May. We don’t know…”

“You’re right, but I _do_ know we don’t have time to check. Neither of us is good to anybody dead.” 

_

The ground around Talbot comes apart like an egg being cracked open. He’s never felt such power before in his life. It honestly brings a smile to his face, but an even bigger one replaces the current smile when the gravitonium buried in the Earth surges towards him like it’s being sucked up by a vacuum. He can already feel his strength increasing by more than a hundred fold and it’s still climbing. The voices of Dr. Hall, Ian Quinn, Carl Creel, Daisy…all of them buried underneath a tidal wave’s worth of gravitonium and there’s still so much more to come.

_

Parts of the building start to collapse and Fitz looks back up the stairs, hoping for some sign of Mack sprinting down the stairs with Robin’s mother, but there’s nothing, but dust and rubble.

“Hey,” May says pulling Fitz’s head back to look at her. “You are NOT leaving Simmons a widow. Not after everything you’ve been through. This is not how your story ends.”

“…damn it.” Fitz curses and follows May down the rest of the stairs and out of the building.

_

_This is so much more than I ever could’ve hoped for,_ Talbot thinks. 

_I can’t wait for my son to see me as a hero again. He’ll be so proud. He’ll be…he’ll…he…_

The gravitonium starts coming in at a faster rate than when he started to absorb.

_Getting a little too excited there, Talbot. Better ease up. Come on. Come on, Talbot! STOP!_

The gravitonium won’t stop flowing into him. It’s not just the gravitonium beneath the city. It’s like all of the world’s gravitonium is flowing to him all at once. Traveling underneath the Earth to his location at the speed of sound. He cannot stop absorbing it and he cannot stop quaking apart the ground to make it easy for it to get to him.

“This isn’t supposed to happen. This isn’t supposed to happen,” he panics. “I’m in control! STOP!” He orders, but it’s a meaningless gesture. The ground around him begins shattering as his body starts transforming into pure gravitonium. 

_

“This is the last day,” Robin whispers.

“Don’t say things like that. We’ll-we’ll find a way around this,” May tries to comfort her when another violent quake rocks the city. A building in the distance collapses as does another and then another, but it isn’t just that. Cars start to float off the street and then crash back down and then get lifted back up and crash again. All the rubble around them starts flying around like something out of a storm. 

“May!” She hears Fitz almost cry out. 

She turns and sees him floating into the air too. May grabs him with her right hand and pulls with all her might to keep him from going any higher as more buildings fall apart at the seams, getting closer to where Fitz and May stand.

_

Davis’ hands violently shake from either his fear at the city falling apart, the earthquakes, or a mixture of the two. He looks at his communicator desperately hoping for a message from May telling him she’s safe and to lift off. No such message comes.

“Davis! Get us in the air!” Piper frantically orders him rushing into the cockpit.

“No! Agent May gave me orders to wait for her! We aren’t leaving!”

“We don’t leave now, there won’t be a Shield left to protect anyone! Please, take off!” Davis looks at the controls and then his communicator again. 

“Damn it!” He curses slamming his fists on the controls then looks back up and his hearts sinks. The street is collapsing. Everything being pulled into the ground below as if the world itself can’t supporting the weight of anything. 

“Davis!” It’s May.

“May, thank God! Are you onboard!”

“No! Take off now!”

“But…”

“NOW! I have a plan!”

“God help me,” Davis whispers and starts to lift the Zephyr off.

_

Elena sprints past the terrified beyond belief citizens to the cargo bay of the Zephyr. The room rapidly filling up with dust and gravel from the destruction of the city. She reaches the ramp and spots Fitz, and May, carrying Robin, sprinting in the Zephyr’s direction as fast as possible. The collapsing street following them almost as if it doesn’t want them to get away.

_Dios Mio. Please let this work,_ she silently prays as the Zephyr begins lifting off. 

The second its off the ground, Elena takes a deep breath and races off the ramp into the city. She doesn’t let the stinging sensation in her eyes from the dust, or the hole in her heart from knowing that Mack must be dead if he isn’t with Fitz and May, distract her. She’s only got one chance and one heartbeat to get this right.

_Almost there. If I can just reach out,_ she thinks, but then feels herself snapping back. 

_NO! Nobody else is going to die! Dios Mio, PLEASE!_

She goes forward by another step, and then another, and another. Her body feeling like it might break in two from breaking the very nature of her own powers. She goes further by several more steps until she is behind the group. She puts her arms around them and feels herself snapping back at a rate faster than she’s ever experienced. She leaps up just over the ramp and lands safely in the Zephyr, exiting her speed mode and the group lands roughly in the cargo bay; the Zephyr also safe in the air.

“Thank you. Thank you,” Elena whispers to God.

_

“This isn’t right. I’m supposed to be a hero,” Talbot continues to panic. His head slowly being consumed by the gravitonium. 

_

“Robin. Are you ok?” May asks while wincing from the pain of her own landing.

“We aren’t safe here,” she warns. 

“I know. We’re going to the lighthouse.”

“No! We aren’t safe here. We aren’t safe anywhere.” 

“I-I don’t think she means the city,” Fitz says. 

“Earth…we’re not safe on…Davis! Take the Zephyr into space!”

_

“Attention everyone! Strap yourselves in or find something to hold onto!” Piper orders through the Zephyr’s comm system.

_

“I can’t hold it! I can’t-I-I can’t-I can’t fix this!” Talbot’s face is consumed by the gravitonium and he morphs into a shapeless blob that’s growing larger by the second.

_

The Zephyr climbs further and further into space. Robin holding onto May for dear life. Ftiz clinging to the seat he strapped himself into and uttering a silent prayer to himself.

_

_I couldn’t fix this._

And Talbot’s gravitonium form explodes. The resulting shockwave obliterating everything in its path. Quaking apart the gravitionium beneath the Earth he was connected with; quaking apart the Earth itself. 

_

The shockwave catches up with the Zephyr and knocks it completely off course; throwing it and everyone on board around like rag dolls. Tossing Coulson’s trusty Lola into the ceiling and back to the floor.

Davis has an iron, white knuckle grip on the controls. Fighting with every fiber of his being to keep the ship steady. He knew there was a reason he survived Aida’s attack on him and this was it. This was his moment and he wasn’t going to mess up. He goes to work pressing whatever buttons in the cockpit he can think of to level out the Zephyr and it takes thirty agonizing seconds, but he succeeds and pushes the ship out of the Earth’s atmosphere and into space just as another explosion occurs nearly sending the Zephyr into another chaotic spin, but this time, Davis manages to keep it together and doesn’t let up until he’s sure they are out of range of any other shockwaves that might follow. 

Back in the cargo bay, May still holds Robin in her arms. Refusing to let the girl go this time like she did in Bahrain. 

“We’re safe,” May whispers to Robin. "We’re safe,” she whispers again. “You saved us.” She kisses her cheek and Robin holds her even tighter.

“Um, guys. Look,” Elena say pointing out the window. Fitz and May look as well and silently gasp. 75% of the Earth; it’s gone. 

**To Be Continued…**


	2. A Moment of Silence

**A/N: Since this is meant to be what kicked off the time loop (as in Team Coulson did not go to the future in this timeline), some events that occurred prior to the Earth being destroyed will be different compared to what we saw on the show. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

The Earth…75% of the beautiful, peaceful Earth…gone. It’s like something out of a nightmare, but worse. 100 times worse. You can wake up from a nightmare, but this…this is reality. And there was not a damn thing Melinda May could do about it. All of those people, simply gone in the blink of an eye. Her legs feel wobbly from her weak knees and she stumbles backwards into her seat. She lifts her communicator up to her lips, but finds no words coming out of her mouth. It takes her maybe ninety seconds to find the will to speak.

“D-Davis,” her voice is barely above a whisper. She clears her throat and tries again. “Davis.” Still barely loud, but better than nothing.

“May?”

“I-I-I need you to shut all the windows in the Zephyr.”

“Why?”

“Just do it…I can’t explain. Not now. Please.”

“Yes ma’am…about Coulson…”

“Davis. No more talking.” May turns her communicator off before he can continue the conversation. 

Fifteen seconds later the windows in the cargo bay shut and May buries her face in her hands. Her thoughts drifting back to Coulson...Coulson. Part of May wondered what he would say if he were here now. The other part of her wonders if it even matters. He’s gone and just like the Earth, there’s not a damn thing she can do to change it. No tears come, but she wishes they would. She needed to feel something. Anything. May’s stupor is broken by the sound of someone else’s cries.

She looks up and locks eyes with the frightened Robin; the latter’s eyes glistening with tears. The tears May couldn’t cry. A frightening realization hits May like a punch to the face from a centipede soldier. Robin may be the only child amongst the survivors. A cold shiver runs down May’s spine at the thought of so many innocent, wide eyed children, no older than Robin, being killed in an instant. There will be no one for Robin to relate to, to befriend. Just a bunch of terrified and confused adults that won’t be able to (and maybe not even bother to try to) understand her. It isn’t fair. _None_ of this is fair. And worse, just like the destruction of Earth and the death of Coulson, May didn’t know what to do. She closes her eyes and wipes away at imaginary tears.

_Phil. I’m so sorry, Phil,_ she thinks when a hand grasps her own. May opens her eyes and sees the hand belongs to Robin.

“Mommy,” Robin whimpers and May finally knows what to do. 

She picks Robin up and holds her again; comfortingly this time. Slowly rocking Robin back and forth. Kissing her cheeks to try and ease her sadness and fears. To let her know that she’s not alone. That there is someone that will try to understand her.

As May continued to comfort Robin, Elena eyes remained fixed on the now shut cargo bay window. That image, that haunting image of the Earth, burned in her mind. Her right hand clutching the crucifix around her neck. A prayer on the tip of her tongue that would not come. It wasn’t a prayer for God to reverse the damage done to the Earth. She knew that isn’t how it worked; that God didn’t magically fix problems. Rather, he put people on the Earth to answer the prayers of those in need; to do _his_ work. When her Inhuman powers were unlocked, Elena thought she was chosen to be one of those people especially when she was recruited by Shield. Joining them was the best thing that ever happened to her. It gave her family. Purpose. Love. But now here she stands on a plane with a small band of survivors and 75% of the Earth reduced to rubble. She didn’t have the right to ask for a miracle when she failed in the most colossal way possible. 

Part of her wanted to consider the people they rescued before the Earth was destroyed to be a minor miracle as that guaranteed humanity would live on, but where could they possibly go in space? And even if what remained of the Earth was still inhabitable, how could they be expected to rebuild from something this devastating? The question shook her to her core and Elena found herself backing up against a wall and then sinking down to the floor. She stared at her robotic arms and felt nothing, but disgust. With some practice, she learned to ignore that these foreign contraptions weren’t really her arms, but now they will serve as a permanent reminder of what the team lost. Mack, Earth, Coulson…Daisy? Elena didn’t even think about where Daisy was until now. May and Fitz didn’t bring her up, but Elena knew that if Daisy made it, she would already be down here trying to get them back on their feet and figure out what to do next. At least that’s what Elena wanted to believe. But what she believed didn’t matter anymore, did it? 

Fitz, meanwhile, remained standing. 

_Breathe in. Breathe out,_ he thought to himself. _Breathe in. Breathe out._

It was all he could do to keep himself calm and composed. Knowing that if he let the crippling fear and panic he’s trying to suppress boil to the surface, the damage that could be done to his already damaged brain would escalate. Granted, bottling up his feelings could also aggravate his injury, but at the moment he’s no good to anyone panicking. By the same token, he’s not sure if he’s good to anyone calm either with there not being any home to go back to. He wonders if this is how Hunter felt a couple of years ago when he aimlessly walked around headquarters looking for some way to help out. 

_Oh God. Hunter! Bobbi!…_ Fitz thinks. 

He knows it’s wrong to just think about them when billions of other people just died, but he can’t help it. He can feel himself starting to hyperventilate, takes a handful of his shirt in his hand, and the next thing he knows, he’s stumbling out of the cargo bay. He half walks, half staggers towards the infirmary hoping to find Simmons. Passing by dozens upon dozens of injured, dazed, and scared civilians. They pay him no mind, a fact he is grateful for as he is not in the frame of mind to answer any questions. He doesn’t even know if they are aware of what happened to the Earth. He reaches the infirmary, but he finds only Piper and a few other agents tending to the wounded. Panic starts to set in once more as Fitz wonders if Simmons wasn’t on the Zephyr when it took off. He runs out of the Infirmary and rushes for the next place he thinks Simmons might be; too worried to stop and ask someone if they’ve seen her.

He reaches the room she usually sleeps in on the Zephyr and walks in without knocking. Overwhelming relief surges through Fitz at the sight of Simmons sitting on her bed. Relief that slowly fades away when he notices her staring at the closed window of her bedroom. It doesn’t take him long to realize that she must’ve seen what happened to the Earth. He cautiously approaches Simmons and puts a hand on her shoulder. She lightly flinches before turning around with tears in her eyes. Tears that rolled down her cheeks and stained her clothes and something else clutched in her hands. It’s a picture of her, Fitz, and all their friends from when they attended the Shield Academy. Fitz doesn’t say anything and just pulls Simmons into a hug. 

Tomorrow they would worry about the other lost souls and the survivors aboard the Zephyr, but for now the two of them take solace in the fact that despite the great tragedy, they still have one another. For once, their supposed curse didn’t tear them apart.

* * *

 

Robin lived in the past, the present, and the future. Time constantly in flux and ever changing. At one point, she witnessed herself grow old, die young, and even her own birth. She would’ve gone mad long ago if not for the feeling that there was another presence almost guiding her along; letting her understand what she saw and interpret as best as she could. But for the first time in forever, she finds herself in the present and only the present. She feels like herself again; Robin Hinton, Age 7, or maybe 8. She’s been through time so often, she stopped keeping track of her age. Now she finds herself with May. A woman she’s seen only in dreams, but whose arms she but felt safe in. She didn’t want this moment to end, but she knew it must. There was something May needed to know. Robin couldn’t remember now, but she would when her powers turned back on. But until then, she let herself be a kid again; just this once, for May. To ease the nightmares the agent felt ever since Bahrain.


	3. The First Day

**A/N: I’ll be going back and forth between the past and future in this story and like I said, not everything will be the same as it was in the time loop timeline. Enjoy and thanks for the people that have followed or reviewed this story so far.:)**

**7 Months Ago**

The Earth was destroyed and there wasn’t a single thing what remained of Shield could do about it. But before this tragedy. Before humanity’s fate was changed forever. There was a moment. A peaceful moment where Team Coulson casually ate their breakfast at a quaint and friendly diner. They knew someone would barge in any second now and arrest them, but they paced themselves nevertheless to savor their food. Who knows when they will get to enjoy a proper meal again.

“Wonder where they’ll take us,” May says biting a strip of bacon in half. 

“I kind of hope it’s The Raft,” Coulson comments. “One of the most state of the art facilities ever. Plus, it’s underwater.” Fitz gags on his food at the mention of The Raft being underwater and May elbows Coulson for his statement. “Oh, right. Sorry about that, Fitz.” 

“It’s-it’s ok sir,” he says taking a deep breath; Simmons rubbing his back to ease his worries.

“You won’t have to worry about going there. The Raft is only for people like me and Elena from what I know about it,” Daisy says then glances at the waitress giving the group a confused look. “The Raft is a special training facility for people like me and my friend,” she lies pointing to herself and Elena. 

“Like FBI training?” The waitress asks them. 

“Something like that,” Elena answers then takes another sip of her drink.

“Would you like me to fill it back up?” 

“Gracias, but no. I don’t think we’ll be here much longer,” Elena says and glances out the window; nothing yet. She feels Mack take her hand, which relaxes some of the tension she feels. Wherever they wind up, she hopes it doesn’t separate her from him particularly after making more progress with their relationship.

“You know what this reminds me of?” May asks.

“What?” Simmons asks.

“The Avengers.”

“How so?” Mack questions.

“After the Battle of New York, pictures of them peacefully getting lunch at a Shawarma restaurant got posted all over the internet.”

“Yeah, that was kind of weird to see, wasn’t it?” Daisy asks. 

“Not really. Even people that live extraordinary lives need their ordinary moments. Helps keep them grounded. Reminds them of what they fight for every day.” May gives Coulson a smile when she says this, which he returns. Everyones’ spirits lift up at her statement and they happily resume eating their breakfast. 

“You know, I think this is the first time we’ve been together in a really long time,” Coulson realizes. 

He lives for the tender moments like this. No androids, spirits of vengeance, militarized racists, or any other evil forces to worry about. Especially the moments he got to spend with May. He’s kicking himself that it took him this long to admit to himself that he really did have feelings for her and she doesn’t even know about them.

_Too bad she knows about me cracking open that bottle without her. I’m gonna be hearing about that one for a while,_ he thinks taking another sip of his coffee when he suddenly hears police sirens outside the diner.

“Here we go,” May says while wiping her mouth. “We’re really doing this, right? You don’t have some sort of trick up your sleeve that you’re keeping from us, so you can see the looks on our faces when you reveal it? Because I’m not in the mood for any surprises.”

“I wish, but no,” Coulson states as several armed men burst into the diner yelling the typical ‘hands up, don’t move’ orders. The team nonchalantly puts their hands up as the soldiers start ushering the civilians out of the diner.

“I’m going to assume full responsibility,” Fitz informs the team in a matter of fact fashion.

“Absolutely not, Fitz. We’re in this together,” Daisy says.

“Damn right,” Coulson agrees. He glances over his shoulder and sees a women dressed in military attire, air force perhaps, entering the diner.

“Phillip J. Coulson,” she says. 

“That’s me,” he replies. 

“Lieutenant Evans,” she introduces. “You and your colleagues are under arrest.”

“Yeah, we figured as much. We’re prepared to go quietly,” he says and the rest of the group nods in agreement. 

“My superior will be pleased to hear that,” Evans says then gestures to her men to begin handcuffing the group. When they get to Daisy, one of Evans’ men holds up a briefcase. He opens it revealing some type of contraption Daisy’s never seen before. She gives Evans a questioning look. 

“Don’t worry. It’s completely harmless. It’s just a means of keeping you from quaking your way out,” Evans explains. Daisy looks to her right and sees the soldiers placing some kind of special boots before Elena for her to step into, most likely to hinder her speed.

“We told you that you have our cooperation, but alright then,” Daisy says and places her hands inside the special cuffs, which seal themselves around her hands. “Ok, lead on.” Daisy stands and follows the soldiers out of the diner to where two trucks are waiting. She sees her friends being loaded into one truck; Simmons keeping close to the sullen Fitz. Daisy starts to follow them, but one of the soldiers places his hand on Daisy’s shoulder to stop her. He points to the truck behind the first one. Daisy nods and walks over to that truck where she finds a containment unit waiting for her inside.

_Oh for crap’s sake. What part of ‘we’re prepared to go quietly’ did they not understand?_ Daisy exasperatedly thinks. 

She climbs into the back of the truck and enters the containment unit. She sits down inside it and the soldiers strap her chest and legs to the seat. Once they finish, Evans enters the unit holding a glass of water and a pill.

“Seriously? Do I look like I’m in any sort of position to pull a fast one?” Daisy complains. 

“Not used to being on the other side of a cell are you?” Evans asks. 

“Now that you mention it, no, but this is still one more precaution than necessary.”

“Ms. Johnson, I hope you realize that you’re getting better treatment than you deserve. General Talbot might never wake up after what you did to him.”

“That wasn’t me. That was a Life Model Decoy. You’ll all soon see that this was a frame up job.”

“That’s for my superior to decide, now drink up.” Daisy sticks her tongue out and Evans places the pill on it. She holds the glass of water to Daisy lip’s and she drinks from it. She swallows and sticks her tongue back out to show the pill is gone.

“So, how long before it kicks…”

* * *

 

**A Few Hours Later**

Daisy’s eyes drowsily open. She’s lying on a bed in a room that looks like a cell; her hands no longer cuffed.

_What happened? I don’t even remember falling asleep,_ she thinks sitting up and rubbing her throbbing forehead before scanning the room. 

There’s not much else in it with her. Just a mirror and desk across from her bed with a change of clothes on them. Daisy gets off her bed and approaches the desk. She rolls her eyes at the sight of the clothes. They are the exact same clothes she wore all those years ago when she first met Coulson; maybe an extra size bigger.

_Is this part of a good cop, bad cop routine?_ Daisy wonders. 

She takes another look around and does not see any cameras in the room with her, but figures whomever’s holding her must be watching somehow. She almost considers defiantly tossing the clothes aside, but then realizes that if she wants to know what happened to her friends, it’ll be in his best interest to cooperate. So she quickly changes out of her Shield attire and into the civilian clothes. They fit her perfectly. She steps in front of the mirror provided for her and looks herself over. 

_I can’t remember the last time I wore something this colorful,_ she thinks. 

Despite her situation, the color and familiarity of the clothes did bring a smile to her face. A buzzing noise sounds and the door to her room opens up automatically. 

Daisy leaves the room entering a dark hallway. She looks around and sees a single lit area at the end of the hall. 

“I swear if I have to fight through a gauntlet of soldiers to reach that room _,”_ Daisy mutters cautiously approaching the end of the hall. Beads of sweat forming on her forehead the closer she got. But much to her shock, nothing ever came to impede her progress and she stepped inside the room. It looked like an ordinary cafeteria. There was even food laid out for her on one of the tables. 

“Wow, I really am getting treated better than I expected,” she says when someone else walks past her towards the food. She’s a blonde haired girl, a couple of inches shorter than Daisy, with a white T-shirt and jeans on. She looks slightly petite, but with a physique that suggests she works out constantly. Daisy wonders if the girl is being held here too.

“Um…hello?” Daisy calls out. 

The girl ignores her and starts placing some of the food on a plate. Daisy walks up beside the mystery girl. She’s wearing headphones and is listening to music. Daisy taps her shoulder to get her attention and clears her throat. The girl looks at Daisy out of the corner of her eyes. She looks just a little younger than Daisy with the appearance of your typical aloof young adult. 

“Hi. Do you know where we are?” Daisy asks. The girl’s eyes look up and down as if she’s giving Daisy the once over. Her lips form into a smirk breaking her appearance of aloofness and she takes her headphones off.

“The Legendary Quake,” she says.

“I never called myself that. It was just something the News came up with,” Daisy corrects the girl.

“My apologies, Daisy. I must say, you’re much prettier in person,” she compliments. 

“Um, thanks. Where are we?” She asks again while overlooking the girl herself. Shehas a friendly almost flirtatious look in her eyes, but Daisy can see just a hint of danger lurking behind the girl’s welcoming expression. Daisy clenches her fists in preparation for a fight, but the girl just laughs.

“Relax. You’re safe here. I’m Ruby,” she introduces then puts her headphones back on, takes her plate, and leaves the cafeteria and the confused Daisy behind. 

** To Be Continued... **


End file.
